$520 MacBook 2015 1.1 worth the buy?

[Fun.gus]

Hi all,

So I have gotten the opportunity to buy a second hand MacBook 12" 2015 1.1 256 gb for 520 dollars. It will be for my girlfriend who is currently using the MacBook Air 2015 1.6 4gb 128gb. She uses the air everyday and is happy with its performance.

I would please like some advice as to if anybody has made this move and if you think that this is a good deal? Would she feel a big step backward in terms of performance? She studies genetics so she just uses it for writing, some stats applications and working on servers.

What are your thoughts at this price point?

*Poll was meant to say "2018"...its been a long day

 

[James.K.Polk]

I'd pass, considering the poor resale on the 12". Fiancee got her 2016 mid-spec for $700. Unless $520 is the absolute top of your budget, I see several 2016-2017 12" Macbooks on my local Craigslist for sub-$800.

 

[SteveJUAE]

I would pass on a 3 year old for $500 I know US seems to hold their value better than elsewhere but surprised in SA too

I would see what pops up in the future

 

[Fun.gus]

@James.K.Polk @SteveJUAE Thanks for the advice.

So the full deal as it stands is a trade for an older 6S 16gb we no longer use and then USD 300 on top of that. I should have mentioned that I'm in South Africa converting Rands to Dollars. Apple products here are ridiculous expensive except for second hand MacBook Airs. They are everywhere.

I don't think many MacBooks made it into SA or were never purchased here because of their high price tag so the cheapest entry level second hand 2015 MacBook is USD 800.

What I am thinking is that in two years time when we perhaps upgrade, we will get more money back or at least have an easier time breaking even with the MacBook than the bottom of line MacBook Pro? I was just wondering if it would feel like taking three steps back performance wise

Edit: The way I see it is that she will be getting double the ram and space with a better screen for a dip in performance but not having tested one of them out for any length of time, I have no idea what the 1.1 can actually achieve day-to-day in relation to the air. I feel like I'm taking a bit of a leap of faith...

 

[SteveJUAE]

I would ignore what it maybe worth in 3 years time etc as things move on

If the bottom line is your getting a rMB 2015 for $300 plus an old 6S that's collecting dust then do it

Keep the MBA as back-up or just a streamer or kitchen gadget etc

 

[Fun.gus]

That's exactly my thought. I'm going to have a proper look at the rMBP today and give it a test. If it's in good nick, I might just buy it and give it a shot.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Check battery condition as everything else is luck of the draw in terms or ware and tear on internals

 

[Fun.gus]

So I took the plunge and went for it. So far I'm actually pretty impressed with it. It's got some key issues so I'm going to send it in under the recall and get that sorted out but other than that it seems great. Battery could also be in better condition I guess. Its on about 87% of original capacity.

Looking at the clock speeds the quickest I'm getting out of it under a stress test is 2 GHz and its stable at about 86℃. When I disable turbo boost during the CPU test it sits at 0.9 GHz and 50℃ (See screenshots). Can anyone tell me why it peaks at 2 as opposed to the rated 2.4 GHz? and 0.9 as opposed to 1.1 with no boost?

 

[EugW]

So I took the plunge and went for it. So far I'm actually pretty impressed with it. It's got some key issues so I'm going to send it in under the recall and get that sorted out but other than that it seems great. Battery could also be in better condition I guess. Its on about 87% of original capacity.

Looking at the clock speeds the quickest I'm getting out of it under a stress test is 2 GHz and its stable at about 86℃. When I disable turbo boost during the CPU test it sits at 0.9 GHz and 50℃ (See screenshots). Can anyone tell me why it peaks at 2 as opposed to the rated 2.4 GHz? and 0.9 as opposed to 1.1 with no boost?

View attachment 772865 View attachment 772865 View attachment 772866

I'm not sure about the all-core turbo speed spec, but 2.0 GHz sounds about right for 2015 Broadwell Core M-5Y31. The 2.4 GHz Turbo speed you're talking about is just the single-thread Turbo speed, and you will rarely see that.

My 2017 Kaby Lake Core m3-7Y32 has a 1-core Turbo speed of 3.0 GHz, but the all-core Turbo is 2.6 GHz, and it is significantly faster than the Broadwell Core M-5Y31. In sustained loads, the 2017 m3 is about 25-35% faster, which makes sense since 2.6 GHz / 2.0 GHz = 130%.

BTW, in your last picture, is your Core M starting to throttle? Or is the speed dip just due to the screengrab or something? My Core m3 MacBook throttles after a while, but only to 2.5 GHz, so after it heats up you see a wavy line alternating between 2.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz.

P.S. Are you running just 3 instances or four instances of YES? Are you missing an ampersand at the end? Cuz it looks like you're just running 3 instances of it. This is what 4 looks like:

 

[mj_]

P.S. Are you running just 3 instances or four instances of YES? Are you missing an ampersand at the end? Cuz it looks like you're just running 3 instances of it.

No, he's running a full four instances. The missing ampersand simply means that the fourth instance isn't relegated to the background but runs as foreground process instead. That's what the ampersand does in UNIX: it sends a thread straight back to run in the background and returns the PID. It's basically identical to CTRL-Z & bg.

That's why in your screenshot you are presented with the bash prompt again whereas his screenshots seem to be "stuck" - they are in fact not stuck but running the fourth instance of yes redirected to /dev/null.

 

[EugW]

No, he's running a full four instances. The missing ampersand simply means that the fourth instance isn't relegated to the background but runs as foreground process instead. That's what the ampersand does in UNIX: it sends a thread straight back to run in the background and returns the PID. It's basically identical to CTRL-Z & bg.

That's why in your screenshot you are presented with the bash prompt again whereas his screenshots seem to be "stuck" - they are in fact not stuck but running the fourth instance of yes redirected to /dev/null.

I see. Learned something today.

 

[Fun.gus]

I see. Learned something today.

You and I both

Thanks for filling me in with regards to the clock speeds. No I don't think the dip was because of throttling. I left it running for a while and then as I took the screen shot it dipped down and then back up again.

So far I'm very impressed with what such a light machine can achieve and I guess how little you actually need for the most part. I'll be interested to see what a 2018-2019 refresh might bring but I think in a few years I might think of changing out my rMBP 13" for a spec'd out one.

I've noticed that for video streaming and general web browsing I can almost double the battery life by disabling turbo boost which is handy when needing to travelling or something I guess. By far the most power hungry feature is the screen.

Out of a matter of interest, what is stopping me from buying a 2017 or 2016 bottom case to replace the battery?
[doublepost=1532685384][/doublepost]I actually created another thread to find out about using another battery.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/retrofitting-macbook-12-2015-with-2016-2017-parts.2129701/